Samsung No.1 Smartphone Brand Again in Q1, But Apple Still Making More Money

·Samsung defies logic with post-holiday q-o-q
growth·Apple’s shipments fall only marginally due to
iPhone mix·iPhone revenues continue to top the charts

HAMPSHIRE, UNITED KINGDOM – 1st May 2012: Data from leading mobile analyst firm Juniper Research shows Samsung
and Apple trading places once again in the smartphone market, in what is
increasingly becoming a two-horse race. In the first quarter of 2012, the
company estimates that nearly 60% of the 139 million smartphones shipped
worldwide carried either the Apple (35.1 million) or Samsung (46.9 million)
brand – up from 46% in the last three months of 2011. While Apple and Samsung have taken it in turns to lead
the smartphone market over the last four quarters, it seems as if Samsung may
now have established a firm lead in this space – shipping 11.8 million more
units that the Cupertino, California company in Q1.

Samsung Tops
Sales, But Apple leads in Revenue

With the iPhone launch craze now past, the analyst
firm believes Samsung may hold onto its lead next quarter, but as Daniel
Ashdown, Research Analyst with Juniper Research notes: “Apple’s revenues from
its ‘mobile division’ continues to remain significantly higher than Samsung’s,
even when you take into account the latter’s featurephones”. Apple’s iPhone
revenue was $22.7 billion in Q1 ($29.3 billion including the iPad), compared with
Samsung’s KRW18.9 trillion (~$17.0 billion) from its entire mobile division.
While flagship devices, the Samsung Galaxy SII and Galaxy Note contribute
substantial unit volumes, the company’s rise to top spot is evidence of the
smartphone’s entry into mass market price points with products like the Galaxy Y.

Rich-Pickings Still to be had for HTC, Nokia and RIM

HTC – who have not released
shipment volumes for the last two quarters – appears to be following Nokia and
RIM in taking-stock of where it’s best strategy lies. Nokia’s Lumia launches do
not appear to have kick-started a rival yet, with the Finnish company shipping
just 11.9 million smart devices in the first quarter – less than half the
number it shipped in the same period a year previous. RIM’s recent results –
which run to a different financial schedule – nevertheless hint at continuing
problems for the Canadian firm. However, with Juniper forecasting that
smartphone shipments will nearly double over the next five years – from nearly
600 million in 2012 to 1.1 billion by 2017 – there are still plenty of
opportunities for other players to make gains in this market.